Pontoon-pipe for marine dredging.



D. B. 111911111119115y c. F. 1.011,1.v

PONTOON PIPE FOR MARI-NE DRBDGING.-

APPLIOATIQN FILED 11112.19, 19.10.

Patented Nov.15,191o.

@Hom ma STARS DANIEL B. RICHARDS AND CHESTER F. LOGA, OF BEAUFORT, NORTHCAROLINA.

PONTOON-PIPE FOR MARINE DREDGING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

Application filed March 19, 1910. Serial No. 550,500.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Beit known that we, DANIEL B. RICHARDS and CHESTER F. LoGA, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Beaufort, in the county of Carteret andState of North Carolina, haye invented new and useful Improvements inPontoon- Pipes for Marine Dredging, of which the following is aspeciiication.

This invention relates to dredging machines and relates moreparticularlyT to the material conveying pipe or conduit.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve the construction of.conduits of this character so that the same will be materiallycheapened in manufacture and maintenance, thoroughly reliable andetlicient in use, and so designed that sections of the conduit can beeasily and rapidly connected together without danger of leaky joints.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conduit composed ofsections supported on pontoons, the adjacent sections being connected byinflexible joints which can be readily connected and disconnected inlengthening or shortening the conduit, and each section is composed oftwo parts united by a ball joint located between the two pontoonssupporting each section, whereby the ball joints provide sutlicientflexibility to enable the pipe to yield with the undulation of thesurface water in which thc pontoons iioat, it being understood that theball joints are never disconnected so that a great deal of time,expense, and labor is saved.

With these objects in view, and others as will appear as thedescription. proceeds,

the invention comprises the various novel features of construction andarrangement of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter andset forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of theinvention; Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion'of a dredging machineconduit supported on pontoons. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one of thesections of the conduit.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing, A designates several sections of the conduitof a dredging machine and these sections are detachably connectedtogether by joints 2 that are rigid and so designed as to be iiuidtight, and each section A is flexible at an intermediate point, as, forinstance, center 3, so that the conduit can freely move with theundulation in the surface of the water.

Each section A of the conduit consists of two tubes or pipes 4 and 5disposed in alinement and connected at 3 by a ball and socket joint ofany approved construction, which joint is water tight and is permanentlyclosed. The sections 4 and 5 are each supported on its own pontoon `8and is secured thereto by iron straps 9 or equivalent devices, thepontoons being so positioned that the joint will be disposed betweenthem. The pontoons are held together in the usual manner by thewire-rope tail lines 10, fastened to cleats 11 on the pontoons.

The pipe 4 of one section A is detachably connected with the pipe 5 ofthe adjacent section A, the pipe 4 being enlarged and provided with aninternal conical seat 12, while the pipe 5 is reduced and tapered at 13to fit into the seat 12, and the joint is closed by drawing the ipes 4and 5 together longitudinally and this drawing action is produced bybolts 14 hinged at 15 on the pipe 4 and arranged to engage slotted lugsor ears 16 on the adjacent pipe 5, the nuts 17 of the bolt bearingbehind the lugs 16 so that as the nuts are tightened, a drawing actionis produced. rIhis telescoping joint between the ends of the adjacentsections A is of such design that the sections can be readily connectedor disconnected with a minimum of trouble and time and by the fitting ofone part into the other, a water tight joint can be produced. It willthus be seen that the adjacent sections are rigidly connected together,but each section has a flexible joint at its middle so that therequisite flexibility of the conduit is obtained.

A conduit constructed in this manner is comparatively inexpensive,durable and reliable, and dispenses with the usual rubber connections orsleeves'between ladjacent conduits and it may be here remarked thatsince these sleeves as ordinarily used, cost about fifty dollars apieceand last only about a week when the material passing through the conduitis gritty and contains shells, the saving in manufacture and maintenancewill be apparent by the use of the construction hereindescribed. conduitof the character described dispenses with the use of heavy timber, orstrongbacks as they are commonly called, for con- Furthermore, apontoonV necting the pontoons together sincethe pipe sections serve thepurpose of the strongbacks, it being remembered that the joints 2between the sections are rigid as are also the joints 3 in each sectionas regards longitudinal movement of the conduit sections.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the advantages of the construction and of the method ofoperation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to whichthel invention relates, and while we have described the principle ofoperation of the invention, together with the device which we non7consider to be the best embodiment thereof, we desire to have itunderstood that ing the adjacent ends of the pipes together, the outerend of one pipe being tapered and the outer end of the other pipe beingared,

hinged bolts on the outer end of one of the arranged to telescopelongitudinally into the outer end of the adjacent section to form arigid water-tight joint, and means for detachably uniting the sectionsat the telescoping joint and capable of drawing the sectionslongitudinally together.

In testimony whereof we ahx our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL B. RICHARDS. CHESTER F. LOGA. wWitnesses:

J. B. JONES, J. B. JONES, Jr.

